78 research outputs found

    Development of the dog attachment insecurity screening inventory (D-aisi):A pilot study on a sample of female owners

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    SIMPLE SUMMARY: The Strange Situation Procedure is a laboratory test originally designed to assess the quality of a child’s attachment bond to their mother and is widely used in dogs to assess their attachment bond towards the owner. However, the SSP is time consuming and limits the amount and variety of obtainable data. In order to overcome these limitations, we adapted a three-dimensional parent-report scale, named the Attachment Insecurity Screening Inventory (AISI) 6–12, originally developed to assess 6- to 12-year-old children’s attachment insecurity, to dog–owner dyads, and we assessed scale consistency and validity. A first statistical analysis performed on the responses provided by 524 female owners to the online questionnaire revealed five scale dimensions named “physical contact”, “control”, separation anxiety”, “owner as emotional support”, and “owner as a source of positive emotion”. However, a further forced extraction of three components resulted in subscales that mirrored the ones reported for the original AISI in terms of item composition (i.e., ambivalent, avoidant, and disorganized). The three subscales also had satisfactory to good measures of internal reliability. The final scale was named the Dog Attachment Insecurity Screening Inventory (D-AISI). Although promising, it needs to be refined and tested for more validity measures. ABSTRACT: To date, the Strange Situation Procedure is the only tool available to investigate the quality of the dog’s attachment bond towards the owner. This study aimed to adapt a parent-report scale, named the Attachment Insecurity Screening Inventory (AISI) 6–12, originally designed to assess 6- to 12-year-old children’s attachment insecurity, to dog–owner dyads and assess measures of consistency and validity. The online questionnaire was completed by 524 female dog owners. Principal component analysis (PCA) revealed five components named, respectively, “physical contact”, “control”, “separation anxiety”, “owner as emotional support”, and “owner as a source of positive emotion”. Because of the three-factor structure of the original AISI, a PCA with a pre-fixed set of three factors was also performed. The resulting subscales mirrored the ones found for the original scale (i.e., ambivalent, avoidant, and disorganized), although four items did not fit the model. Internal reliability appeared to be satisfying for the ambivalent and the disorganized subscales, and good for the avoidant subscale. The theoretical background and the results of this study suggest that the three-dimensional model represents a better solution for the interpretation of the Dog Attachment Insecurity Screening Inventory (D-AISI). Although promising, this scale requires refinement and assessment of additional validity measures

    Influence of morning maternal care on the behavioural responses of 8-week-old Beagle puppies to new environmental and social stimuli

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    In mammals, maternal care represents a major constituent of the early-life environment and its influence on individual development has been documented in rodents, non-human primates, humans and recently in adult dogs. The quality and quantity of mother-offspring interactions exerts a multilevel regulation upon the physiological, cognitive, and behavioural development of the offspring. For example, in rats variations in maternal behaviour, such as mother-pup body contact and the amount of licking towards pups in the nest during the early days after parturition, influences the endocrine, emotional, and behavioural responses to stress in the offspring. This produces long-term consequences, which may remain into adulthood and can be transmitted to subsequent generations. Literature about maternal care in dogs and its effect on puppy behaviour is still scarce, although the topic is receiving a growing interest. The aim of the present study was to determine the effects of morning maternal care on behavioural responses of puppies to new environmental and social stimuli. In order to achieve this, maternal care (licking, ano-genital licking, nursing and mother-puppy contact) was assessed in eight litters of domestic dogs living in standard rearing conditions during the first three weeks post-partum. Puppies were subjected to two behavioural tests (arena and isolation tests) at 58-60 days of age, and their behavioural responses were video recorded and analysed. Data was analysed using multivariate analyses (PCA, PLS).During the isolation test, a higher level of maternal care was associated with more exploration and a higher latency to emit the first yelp; on the contrary, a lower level of maternal care was associated with increased locomotion, distress vocalisations and destructive behaviours directed at the enclosure.These results, comparable to those reported in laboratory rat models and to some extent to those recently reported in dog literature, highlight the importance of maternal care on the behavioural development of domestic dog puppies

    Electronic training devices: discussion on the pros and cons of their use in dogs as a basis for the position statement of the European Society of Veterinary Clinical Ethology (ESVCE)

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    In recent years, the affirmation of a greater ethical sense and research generating a better knowledge of the mechanisms of animal learning, evidence of the existence of an animal mind), and studies on the dog-human attachment bond have led to changes in the dog-human relationship. These changes have caused a notable improvement in dog training techniques. Increased emphasis on dog welfare, overall, led to questioning of many training techniques and tools that used aversive means. Recent research on the use of aversive training devices has been performed and, on this basis it has been possible to create guidelines to inform the public about utility and the possible detriments related to the use of these devices as a tool in dog training. The European Society of Clinical Animal Ethology (ESVCE) has released a public position statement based on the current scientific information available on e-collars, punitive training techniques and canine welfare. This paper elaborates and discusses the arguments “pro and contra the use of e-collars and aversive training methods” leading to the statement in more detail. As a conclusion, ESVCE strongly opposes the use of e-collars in dog training, and urges all European countries to take an interest in and position on this welfare matter

    Parent perceptions of the quality of life of pet dogs living with neuro-typically developing and neuro-atypically developing children: an exploratory study

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    There is growing scientific and societal recognition of the role that pet dogs can play in healthy development of children; both those who are neuro-typically developing and those who live with a neuro-developmental disorder, such as autism or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. However, little attention has been paid to how living with children positively and negatively affects quality of life of a pet dog. In this exploratory study we conducted semi-structured interviews with parents of neuro-typically developing children (n = 18) and those with a neuro-developmental disorder (n = 18) who owned a pet dog, until no new factors were identified. Living with children brought potentially positive benefits to the dog’s life including: imposition of a routine, participation in recreational activities and the development of a strong bond between the child and the dog. The importance of maintaining a routine was particularly prevalent in families with children with neuro-developmental disorders. Potential negative factors included having to cope with child meltdowns and tantrums, over stimulation from child visitors, harsh contact and rough and tumble play with the child. The regularity and intensity of meltdowns and tantrums was particularly evident in responses from parents with children with a neuro-developmental disorder. However, child visitors and rough play and contact were mentioned similarly across the groups. Protective factors included having a safe haven for the dog to escape to, parent’s awareness of stress signs and child education in dog-interaction. Parents were also asked to complete a stress response scale to provide an initial quantitative comparison of stress responses between dogs living with the two family-types. Parents with neuro-typically developing children more frequently observed their dog rapidly running away from a situation and less frequently observed their dog widening their eyes, than parents with children with a neuro-developmental disorder. We propose the development of a stress audit based on the findings reported here, to prevent potential dangerous situations, which may lead to dog bites and dog relinquishment and allow owners to maximise the benefits of dog ownership

    Dogs and humans respond to emotionally competent stimuli by producing different facial actions

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    The commonality of facial expressions of emotion has been studied in different species since Darwin, with most of the research focusing on closely related primate species. However, it is unclear to what extent there exists common facial expression in species more phylogenetically distant, but sharing a need for common interspecific emotional understanding. Here we used the objective, anatomically-based tools, FACS and DogFACS (Facial Action Coding Systems), to quantify and compare human and domestic dog facial expressions in response to emotionally-competent stimuli associated with different categories of emotional arousal. We sought to answer two questions: Firstly, do dogs display specific discriminatory facial movements in response to different categories of emotional stimuli? Secondly, do dogs display similar facial movements to humans when reacting in emotionally comparable contexts? We found that dogs displayed distinctive facial actions depending on the category of stimuli. However, dogs produced different facial movements to humans in comparable states of emotional arousal. These results refute the commonality of emotional expression across mammals, since dogs do not display human-like facial expressions. Given the unique interspecific relationship between dogs and humans, two highly social but evolutionarily distant species sharing a common environment, these findings give new insight into the origin of emotion expression

    Defining Terms Used for Animals Working in Support Roles for People with Support Needs

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    This is the final version. Available on open access from MDPI via the DOI in this recordData Availability Statement: De-identified qualitative data can be made available by contacting the lead author.The nomenclature used to describe animals working in roles supporting people can be confusing. The same term may be used to describe different roles, or two terms may mean the same thing. This confusion is evident among researchers, practitioners, and end users. Because certain animal roles are provided with legal protections and/or government-funding support in some jurisdictions, it is necessary to clearly define the existing terms to avoid confusion. The aim of this paper is to provide operationalized definitions for nine terms, which would be useful in many world regions: "assistance animal", "companion animal", "educational/school support animal", "emotional support animal", "facility animal", "service animal", "skilled companion animal", "therapy animal", and "visiting/visitation animal". At the International Society for Anthrozoology (ISAZ) conferences in 2018 and 2020, over 100 delegates participated in workshops to define these terms, many of whom co-authored this paper. Through an iterative process, we have defined the nine terms and explained how they differ from each other. We recommend phasing out two terms (i.e., "skilled companion animal" and "service animal") due to overlap with other terms that could potentially exacerbate confusion. The implications for several regions of the world are discussed

    A survey on the presence and work of Animal Affairs Bureaux in Italy

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    In the last years, due to an increased awareness on animal welfare, some bureaux dealing with animal protection, especially protection of dogs and cats (Animal Affairs Bureaux=AAB), have been created on the Italian territory. The aim of this study was to investigate the presence and work of AAB in Italy. In 2011, a 16-item questionnaire was sent to all the Italian Animal Affairs Bureaux that could be tracked on the web. Overall, a shortage of AAB was observed (n=68). The first AAB was created in 1992. The distribution was uneven, with 34 centers in Lombardy, 7 in Tuscany, and 5 on 20 Regions without any AAB. Thirty-one questionnaires were returned. Among respondents, the staff (1 to 8 people per AAB, 88 in total) had not attended any preparatory courses; and only 22.6% of people working in a AAB had previous experience or training in the field. The tasks mainly performed by AAB were: providing information to public audience regarding animal protection and management (96.7%); petitions for animal mistreatments (87.0%); census of free-ranging cats living in the colonies recognised by the municipality (74.1%); acceptance or rejection of the relinquishment or transfer of owned dogs (67.7%); capture and reintroduction of cats belonging to recognised colonies (67.7%). In many of the districts, dog shelters were not present (38.7% for short permanence shelters and 58.1% for long permanence shelters), although mandatory by law. The vast majority of districts (83.8%) had created areas in which owned dogs can be left off-leash and socialize with other dogs. However, only 40.0% of districts along the coast had beaches equipped for dogs (8 in Tuscany and 6 in Emilia-Romagna). Most districts (74.2%) fulfilled their own regulations concerning animal protection. In conclusion, AAB play an important role in urban anthrozoology. However, their staff, spread, and facilities should be largely implemented in Italy

    Motor laterality in domestic dogs: does the familiarity with the handler influence the paw preference?

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    The term laterality refers to the preference most mammals show for one body side over the other. The aim of this study was to evaluate the reproducibility of the First-stepping test (Tomkins et al., 2010) in relation to the familiarity with the handler. Thirty-eight adult dogs (22 females, 16 males, different breeds) were tested twice in a modified version of Tomkins’ test (30 repetitions instead of 50), once with the owner and once with an unfamiliar handler, one day apart. The paw preference (PP) for each dog in both tests was determined as suggested by Tomkins et al. (2010), calculating the lateralization index and considering a significant preference for Z-scores + 1.96 (right PP). There was a low concordance between the Z-scores of the two tests (Cohens’ Kappa coefficient = 0.44). In detail, the Z-score of 14 dogs was different in relation to the familiarity with the handler: 1 dog showed a right PP with the owner and a left PP with the unfamiliar handler; 9 dogs showed a non-significant Z-score with the owner and a significant Z-score with the unfamiliar handler; 4 dogs showed a significant Z-score with the owner and a non-significant Z-score with the unfamiliar handler. Previous literature on dogs and other mammals reports that laterality is strongly task-dependent. The current findings suggest that PP may be influenced by other factors, such as the familiarity with the handler, which should be taken into account when testing animals for motor laterality
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